May Nivar

May Nivar

May Nivar is a founding member and chair of Asian & Latino Solidarity Alliance of Central Virginia. She is a community advocate passionate about ALSACV’s vision because she believes communities with common objectives should work together.

It’s this passion that fuels May to serve her community and seek social change. May was appointed by Governor Terry McAuliffe in 2017 to the Virginia Asian Advisory Board (VAAB) for a four-year term and has served as its chair since 2018. The VAAB’s purpose is to advise the Governor on ways to improve economic and cultural links between the Commonwealth and Asian nations, with a focus on the areas of commerce and trade, art and education, and general government; as well as issues affecting the Asian community in the Commonwealth. May is also a founding board member of Asian Americans Impacting Virginia, which seeks to increase the Asian & Pacific Islander (API) community’s civic engagement and support candidates and elected officials who address API issues; and serves as a Richmond chapter member of the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities, which works with schools, businesses, and communities to achieve success through inclusion. Previous board service included the Asian American Society of Central VA and OCA Asian Pacific American Advocates – Central Virginia Chapter.

May is a senior manager in Regulatory Affairs at Altria, a Fortune 200 company proud to call Richmond, Virginia its home and whose mission is to own and develop financially disciplined businesses that are leaders in responsibly providing adult tobacco and wine consumers with superior branded products. May was the founding chair of Altria’s Asian employee resource group, EAST, and helped pilot its Women’s Network’s first mentoring program.

May is a second-generation American of Chinese descent whose parents immigrated to the U.S. and worked hard to eventually own and operate their own Chinese take-out restaurant businesses. May holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from New York University, is a 2017 graduate of Leadership Metro Richmond, and has corporate communications, public relations, diversity and inclusion, brand management, social media marketing, and nonprofit advocacy expertise.

She is also passionate about ALSACV’s vision of Asians and Latinos having equitable representation, visibility, and access to economic and social programs, especially since she and her husband, who is Dominican, are raising three children in Central Virginia.